Windmill toy



Dec. 20, 1949 R; B R 'A ET A 2,491,706

WINDMILL TQY Filed March 30, 1948 28 t I INVENTORS RAPHAEL BOFEZH HEL 1.. 0122/? a BY EN 5 ATTORNEY atentedl ec. 20, 1949 STATES PATENT OFFICE .2;491.7ns 'WTN'DMILL'TOY Raphael Borza and Helen L.Borza, Yonkers-2N. 1. Application March a0, 1948, serismo. 17,935

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to windmill toys, and aims to provide a toy having a bilaterally symmetrical closed container pivotally supported at its midpoint in an elevated support, wherebyfthe container is adapted to be swung from a'vertical position in which one end rests on the leased the support through an arc of 180 degrees in which the other end rests on the said base, and vice versa, the container having intermediate its length a paddle wheel whose shaft passes through the said midpoint and has awindmill-like fan on one or both ends thereof. A suitable fluid substance is contained within the closed container in such proport'on that it occupies less than onehalf of the volume of the container; this substance may be water or any other liquid-or, preferably, sand, the latter being used in the invention as illustrated herein. After the container has rested for a time in either one of the two vertical positions mentioned following movement of the container through said arc, the sand will flow from the upper end of the container through the paddle wheel and down into the lower end of the container, and W111 thus cause the paddle wheel and hence the fans to rotate until the sand has all run down into the lower end.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a dial on the outer wall of the intermediate housing covering the paddle wheel, and an indicator on the adjacent fan, whereby the requirements of a guessing game are present in that the various players may each make a guess as to the point on the dial at which the indicator may come to rest.

The above as Well as additional objects will become apparent in the following description, wherein characters of reference refer to likenumbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended to serve the purpose of illustration only, and that it is neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details of construction shown except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the toy, with the container positioned in one of its two possible upright positions.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the toy, with the container in the other of the said two upright positions.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral I indicates a base having the base II of an up- 2 standing yoke I-2 secured thereon, the opposed arms or supports of the yoke being shown at I3. The "arms I3 are so shaped at their lower ends 'to provide a substantially funnel shaped passage 1 4 transversely 'therebetween.

The elongated closed container i5 has opposed substantially funnel-shaped "hollow end members It and 1611, the tapering ends of these members providing mouths H, An intermediate housing "I8 is provided, having opposed tapering extensions I i-3 and F911 Wh'ichare secured at their extremit-ies to the housings It and Mia, respectively, at=the mouths "I1, whereby communication is provided from the housing l6 into thehousing t8 through the extension l9 and from the housing I611 through the extension IQa into the housing I 8 at the other end of the latter.

The midportion 20 of the housing I8 is shaped into a cylindrical conformation, and mounted in the opposed walls 2| thereof is a shaft 22 having a paddle wheel 23 rigid thereon within the cylindrical midportion 20 and havin on the ends thereof outside the housing I8 fans or the like 24. One wall 2| of the portion 20 may be pro- 0 vided with dial numerals, as shown in Fig. 3, and

the adjacent fan 24 may be provided with an indicator 25.

A sleeve-like rearward extension 26 is provided on the housing I8 intermediate the length of the latter, and a pin 21 passing through openings in the upper ends of the support arms I3 passes through the said sleeve and thus pivots the container I5 on the support arms on an axis which is eccentric to the axis of the paddle wheel 23. The paddle wheel 23 is so positioned that it proiects into the line joining the axes of the mouths Assuming that the container I5 has just been positioned as shown in Fig. 1, where it is stable owing to the eccentricity of the pivot sleeve 26, sand will flow down out of the end housing It, through the extension I9, onto the paddle wheel 23, whence it will rotate the latter and be deposited through the extension lea in the housing Ilia. The wheel and hence the fans 2& will come to a stop after all the sand has passed through the housing I8.

If now the container I5 is swung, in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, through an arc of degrees, the container I5 will stand in the position shown in Fig. 3, with the positions of the end housings I6 and Ilia reversed. Hence, the flow of sand will be reversed through the paddle wheel 23 and will thus rotate the latter in the opposite direction, again until all the sand has flowed through. Thus the cycle may be repeated as often as desired merely by swinging the container first in One direction and then in the other to reverse its position.

Cushions 28 may be provided on the base ID to absorb shock when the container is thus reversed.

Obviously, modifications in form or structure may be made Without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

We claim:

A toy comprising a base having upright support arms thereon, a normally upright closed container comprising an intermediate hollow member and opposed substantially cylindrical hollow end members, the volumes of said end members being mutually substantially identical, said intermediate member having opposed openings communicating with said end members, said intermediate member having a paddle wheel rotatably mounted therein on a horizontal axis and having a shaft rigid with said wheel extending through the opposed walls of said intermediate member, a fan on at least one end of said shaft, said wheel being positioned so that it projects into the straight line joining said opposed openings, said container being pivoted on the ends of said support arms at a point intermediate the length of the container and on an axis parallel with and horizontally spaced from the axis of the paddle wheel, said container having therein a quantity of freely flowing material such as, for example, sand, the volume of said material approximately equalling the volume of each of said end members, said container being adapted to be manually swung back and forth on its axis through an '4 are of substantially 180 degrees, and combined stop and support means positioning said container in vertical position after swinging said container through said are in either direction, said means comprising a pair of spaced cushions extending upward from said base, the imaginary line joining said cushions lying in a vertical plane through the axes of said end members, said cushions projecting into the orbits of said end members, one of said cushions thereby supporting one of said end members when said container lies upright before being swung through said arc, the other of said cushions thereby supporting the other of said end members when said container lies upright after swinging through said are.

RAPHAEL BORZA. HELEN L. BORZA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENT Number Name Date 522,525 Houseman July 3, 1894 615,277 Hyde Dec. 6, 1898 925,232 Sandstrom June 15, 1909 1,181,658 Fox May 2, 1916 1,315,108 Gaines Sept. 2, 1919 1,450375 Kehl Apr. 3, 1923 1,627,270 Burnham May 3, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 216,850 Switzerland Jan. 5, 1942 419,222 Great Britain Nov. 8, 1934 

